Soccer

Radamel Falcao completes loan move to Chelsea

Jose Mourinho hoping to get the best out of Colombian striker after he failed to fire at Man United

Colombia striker Radamel Falcao will join Chelsea on loan after Manchester United decided against a permanent move for the player after he spent last year at Old Trafford. Photograph: Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images
Colombia striker Radamel Falcao will join Chelsea on loan after Manchester United decided against a permanent move for the player after he spent last year at Old Trafford. Photograph: Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images
Fri Jul 03 2015 - 17:42

Chelsea have completed the loan signing of Radamel Falcao with manager Jose Mourinho hoping to bring out the real form of the Colombian after his mediocre year at Manchester United.

The 29-year-old scored just four times at Old Trafford as United manager Louis van Gaal opted against signing the Monaco man on a permanent basis.

Instead, Falcao will be plying his trade for reigning champions Chelsea under the stewardship of Mourinho, who said earlier in the summer that he wanted to help the former Porto and Atletico Madrid striker reach his level again, and that he was hurt that English football fans thought the real Falcao was the out-of-sorts figure seen at United.

Having missed the 2014 World Cup with a serious knee injury, Falcao’s career appeared to be back on the rise as he joined United as part of Van Gaal’s revolution.

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But he scored just four league goals, coming against Everton, Aston Villa, Stoke and Leicester, in 26 appearances as United finished fourth.

Meanwhile, Chelsea were winning the league and Capital One Cup double with their own new forward Diego Costa helping himself to 20 Premier League goals.

Now he will be teamed with Falcao – after the pair played together in Madrid – in what is a potentially potent strike-force at Stamford Bridge, with the Colombia international already targeting silverware.

“I am very happy to be joining Chelsea and can’t wait to start training and help with our aim of retaining the league title and being successful in Europe,” Falcao told Chelsea’s official website.

Falcao, who failed to find the net for Colombia as they were knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the Copa America, has enjoyed success throughout Europe since initially moving to Porto in 2009.

He made his Champions League debut against Chelsea and also hit a hat-trick against the Blues in the European Super Cup during a goal-laden spell in Madrid.

Falcao then made his way on to Monaco but his big-money move was less successful as he suffered a serious knee injury in 2014 and missed half of the Ligue 1 season and the World Cup.

Having already played with fellow Chelsea players Costa, Thibaut Courtois and Felipe Luis at Atletico and Juan Cuadrado at international level, Falcao will already have a host of familiar faces in the Chelsea dressing room and, with a manager determined to get the best out of him, the forward will be hoping to show he can cut it in the Premier League.

He is now expected to link up with his new team-mates on a pre-season tour of the United States.